When I interviewed Roberto Ragone about his new career, promoting art projects that convey a respectful image of the Italian-American experience and take on the negative stereotypes, our conversation covered both his professional undertakings and his community activism, also done in the name of the arts and ethnic identity.

Some of the highlights are Ragone’s belief in ancestral awareness as a pathway to self-empowerment, and his advocacy of the “One Percent for Culture” campaign, a non-partisan, community-led project aimed at rallying New York businesses to convince City Hall to allocate one percent of its expense budget to cultural activities. The pay offs, says Ragone, are worth the investment.

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Great podcast! I love that the campaign is working towards getting City Hall to allocate money for cultural activities. I think this is such a great idea! I really believe that our society needs to be better educated on many different cultures and backgrounds that surround us. I think having more programs like this will help eliminate misconceptions and cultural stereotypes. Unfortunately it’s so much easier just to typecasts and make assumptions but I really believe if we had created more learning opportunities our society would be willing to learn and adapt more easily to different cultures and traditions. Good luck!